| Summary: | Educator and poet Alfred Bennett Spellman was born on August 12, 1935 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. After high school, Spellman entered Howard University, earning his B.S. degree in political science in 1956. In 1959, Spellman began his writing career with Metronome and Downbeat magazines. In 1964, he published his only book of poetry, The Beautiful Days. In 1966, he published his first book, Four Lives in the Bee-Bop Business, and then toured the country with a group of black poets to several historically black colleges. Between 1969 and 1975, Spellman taught at several colleges, including Morehouse College, Emory University, Rutgers University, and Harvard University. In 1975, he began his long career with the National Endowment of the Arts, where he served as the deputy chairman for the Office of Guidelines, Panel and Council Operations.
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